First Command Performance of Romeo and Juliet

Synopsis
A US drama series re-enacting major historical events and covering them as current news stories. This episode concerns December 26 1597 when Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was selected by Queen Elizabeth I to be performed at Court in Greenwich. The reporter is Walter Cronkite.
Series
You Are There
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Television
Transmission details
21 Feb 1954 at 18:30 (Channel: CBS)
Duration
30 mins

Credits

Director
Sidney Lumet
Producer
Charles Russell; James D. Fonda
Writer
Jeremy Daniel
Contributor
Walter Cronkite
Cast
Rod SteigerRomeo
Ken WalkenJuliet
Douglass WatsonMercutio
Douglass WatsonWilliam Shakespeare
Herbert RudleySir Walter Raleigh
Jerome KiltyEarl of Essex
John Baragrey 
Kendall ClarkFrancis Bacon
Mildred Dunnock 
Rod SteigerRichard Burbage

Additional Details

Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Plays
Romeo and Juliet
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General
The three key writers who created the show - Abraham Polonsky, Arnold Manoff, and Walter Bernstein - were blacklisted by the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. Not able to work officially on the programme, they submitted their scripts through "fronts."
History
Season 2, episode 46

Production Company

Name

CBS News

Web
http://www.cbsnews.com/ External site opens in new window

Archive

Name

Paley Center for Media

Web
http://www.paleycenter.org/ External site opens in new window
Phone
(212) 621-6600
Address
25 West 52 Street
New York
New York
110019
USA
Notes
Formerly Museum of Television and Radio (MTR). The name changed in 2007.
Name

UCLA

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "First Command Performance of Romeo and Juliet". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av66892 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)